Will wrote:
I have a box of old tools... wrenches, screw drivers, sockets, socket wrench
handels, etc.

It is all quite rusty.

What is the best way to clean these tools up and get all the rust off?

Some tools will respond quite well to just oiling them and rubbing them with a
rag. This often suffices for old wrenches and the like.

If a tool isn't galvanized (few are) they may well like the zinc/lye treatment.
To try this, dissolve a cup or so of lye (you can buy it at the supermarket by
the laundry soap) in water, and dissolve as much zinc as it will eat. Many small
castings are made of zinc (pot metal) like lamp bases, auto mirror supports,
stuff like that. Most houses have some broken pot metal bits around. Anyway,
once the zinc is dissolved in the lye, put in your rusty tools. Wear gloves and
eye protection, lye is certain to blind you if it gets in your eye. After a day
or two, remove your tools and rinse them in very hot water, hot enough so they
self-dry within 60 seconds, then oil them. The zinc is higher on the galvanic
scale than iron, so the iron oxide turns into zinc oxide chemically. This works
very well on galvanized bits you want to weld up too, if you don't want to
monkey with extracting zinc fumes.

Beyond that, google on electrolytic derusting. If you have a car battery charger
it's easy.

GWE